Public Lecture at TCJS in Kyoto (05 December 2025); Thomas Conlan: "East Asian Traders and Multiethnic Kings"

[pmjs....@8shield.net]

Dear list members,

I am pleased to invite you to the next talk in the public lectures series at Tübingen University's Center for Japanese Studies (TCJS) in Kyoto.

Our presenter will be Thomas Conlan, Professor of East Asian Studies and History at Princeton University. With special interests in samurai and warrior culture, regional lordship and trade networks, and mining and metallurgy, his research — also drawing on material and archaeological evidence — examines political, social, and intellectual transformations in premodern Japan.

Please mark your calendar!

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Prof. Thomas Conlan (Princeton University, USA)

"East Asian Traders and Multiethnic Kings: The Lost History of Ōuchi Rule in Japan (1350–1569)"

Time:  05 December 2025 (Friday),  18:00 - 20:00 h

Place: Doshisha University's Imadegawa-Campus,

           Neiseikan,  Room N36 (3/F)

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Abstract:

This lecture traces the history of the Ōuchi, an immigrant family from western Japan, and explores how they amassed power and influence from the fourteenth through the mid-sixteenth centuries.

The Ōuchi family were kings in all but name who oversaw extensive trade with the continent, while their city of Yamaguchi functioned as an important regional entrepôt. They established an ethnic identity, claiming descent from Korean kings, and these assertions helped facilitate close ties with Korea. Under their rule, the political and economic core of Japan migrated from the capital Kyōto to the western tip of Honshu during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, although this region suffered eclipse in the aftermath of the Ōuchi collapse.

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"Neiseikan" - located close to the north exit of the subway station "Imadegawa" - is Building No. 15 on this campus map:

https://tinyurl.com/TCJS-Map

The lecture is open to the public and all are welcome to attend.

Best regards,

Michael Wachutka

Director, Tübingen Center for Japanese Studies (TCJS) in Kyoto

michael....@uni-tuebingen.de